Mango Rice Salad with Grilled Shrimp

This meal is by far one of my favorites to make! It is so colorful, tastey, and light! This recipe is of course from Cooking Light.

I always buy the shrimp that you have to peel yourself-I find it kind of fun, and it is a better deal than buying them pre-peeled.

The first step is to combine the following for the shrimp marinade:

-4 tsp curry powder

-1 tbsp minced fresh garlic

-1 tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

-1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

-1/8 tsp ground red pepper

-1/8 tsp ground cumin

Throw in the shrimp (1.5 pounds, about 36), cover and chill for an hour in the fridge (yes, make sure you have an extra hour to spare before dinner!)

In the meantime find a willing sous chef to start chopping up the veggies for the rice:

-1.5 cups peeled, diced mango

-1.5 cups diced red bell pepper

-3/4 cup shredded carrot (use a carrot peeler to get a fun texture)

-1/2 cup sliced green onions

-1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

-1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

-2 tbsp fresh lime juice

My sous chef insisted he knew the best way to cut up mango:

At least he was excited about it :)

I used my brand new Santoku knife from my Auntie Di to chop the veggies--I insisted on being the first to use it:

It made chopping a dream! Great knives really make all the difference.

Anyhoo, back to the meal...bring 2 cups of water and 2/3 cup of light coconut milk to a boil and then add the rice (1 and 1/4 cup). Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes until liquid is absorbed.

I decided to use jasmine rice because, well, when I went 'shopping' at my parents house, that is all they had! I also didn't have light coconut milk and to be honest, it sort of does make a difference. After having this meal several times, it felt noticeably more heavy with the regular. Its up to you (but, if you use the light, you can have dessert, right?).

Here is the excitement of waiting for the water and coconut milk boil:

While the rice is cooking and the shrimp is marinating (marinading?), of course be sure to enjoy some bubbly :)

I tried a bottle of 'Pink' that was available at the BevMo 5 cent sale. It did the job.

Once the shrimp is ready its time to grill! I adore my Le Creuset grill pan. The recipe calls for 36 shrimp (feeds 6) and says to thread 3 shrimp each onto 12 skewers. I think thats a little overkill so I just throw them on the pan:

Three minutes on each side and voila:

Add the mango and all the veggies to the rice, stir, add the shrimp, and garnish with cilantro sprig:

And, if there are only 2 of you eating you will have some incredible leftovers:

Enjoy!!